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Farmers say Beijing's growing presence in Kenya is having a negative impact on their lives, culture, and ability to make ends meet. ...Munyua, 38, and other local farmers say they are being undercut by producers who ship garlic almost 7,000 miles by sea from the world's most populous country. They accuse Beijing of "garlic dumping" and say they can't compete. "If you go the markets you will see that 80 percent of garlic is from China," said James Kamau, who runs a support group for fellow farmers.... In recent years, China has offered African countries loans, development aid and vast...

Mosquito bites are bothersome enough, but when you consider risks, like getting sick with Zika, dengue, or chikungunya, it’s important that you choose an insect repellent that works well and that you feel comfortable regularly using. Protect yourself when traveling: Learn about country-specific travel advice, health risks, and how to stay safe by visiting CDC Travelers’ Health website. Use insect repellent: Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellent with one of the following active ingredients. When used as directed, EPA-registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women.DEETPicaridin, also known as KBR 3023, Bayrepel,...

Food scientists at Cornell University have produced a strain of broccoli that thrives in hot environments, which may make it possible for states with stiflingly hot summers to grow the vegetable. California, where cool coastal fog is perfect for growing standard broccoli, currently produces more than 90 percent of the broccoli grown in the United States. If California were to disappear, what would the American diet be like? Expensive and grainy. California produces a sizable majority of many American fruits, vegetables, and nuts: 99 percent of artichokes, 99 percent of walnuts, 97 percent of kiwis, 97 percent of plums, 95...

... Yes, you can make your own anti-biotics at home. I’ll show you how to make a really super powerful one (it’s easy to do). Anyone can do it. Most people will want to do this in their backyards or on a patio. But I suppose you could do it indoors too. This one I’ll show you how to make is way more complex than anything the pharmaceutical companies can produce, yet it is simpler and easier to make. No, you won’t need a lab of chemistry set. No, you won’t need microscopes or chemicals. Nope, you won’t even need...

An ancient concoction for eye infections seems to really work. The potion, which contains cattle bile, kills the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, researchers at Britain's University of Nottingham report. In fact, it worked better than the current gold standard for MRSA infections of the flesh, the antibiotic vancomycin, an expert at Texas Tech University found. Now researchers are working to see just what's in the salve that kills germs so effectively. It started with a joint project by two wildly different departments at the University of Nottingham. Dr. Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert in the School of English,...

The leechbook is one of the earliest examples of what might loosely be called a medical textbook It seems Anglo-Saxon physicians may actually have practised something pretty close to the modern scientific method, with its emphasis on observation and experimentation. Bald's Leechbook could hold some important lessons for our modern day battle with anti-microbial resistance. line break n each case, they tested the individual ingredients against the bacteria, as well as the remedy and a control solution. They found the remedy killed up to 90% of MRSA bacteria and believe it is the effect of the recipe rather than one...

Onions are eaten and grown in more countries than any other vegetable but rarely seem to receive much acclaim. It's time to stop taking the tangy, tear-inducing bulb for granted and give it a round of applause, writes the BBC's Marek Pruszewicz. Deep in the archives of Yale University's Babylonian Collection lie three small clay tablets with a particular claim to fame - they are the oldest known cookery books. Covered in minute cuneiform writing, they did not give-up their secrets until 1985, nearly 4,000 years after they were written. The French Assyriologist and gourmet cook Jean Bottero - a...

Vitamin D ...the researchers found that adults who took vitamin D supplements daily lived longer than those who didn't. Probiotics ...they're useful in very specific circumstances, but it's not necessary to continually take them on a daily basis. Zinc ...the mineral significantly reduced the duration of the cold, and also made symptoms less severe. Niacin ...Also known as vitamin B3, niacin is talked up as a cure for all sorts of conditions (including high cholesterol, Alzheimer's, diabetes and headaches) but in most of these cases, a prescription-strength dose of niacin has been needed to show a clear result. At over-the-counter...

He was just in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but United States Secretary of State John Kerry will be making yet another visit to the region this week. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that Kerry would be leaving Washington on Wednesday to return to the region for more talks with both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. "This is an important time in the negotiations, and he felt it was important to return to the region," she told reporters, according to the AFP news agency, adding Kerry would spend two days...

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The Southern California maker of a popular hot sauce has been ordered to cease operations that have allegedly emitted harmful odors into the surrounding community, after residents’ complaints of health problems prompted a lawsuit. A state court judge issued a decision late Tuesday finding that Huy Fong Foods Inc., the manufacturer of cult-favorite Sriracha “Rooster Sauce” and other chili sauce products, must “make changes in its site operations reducing odors and the potential for odors” at its Irwindale, Calif., factory. The injunction is slated to take effect on Dec. 9. Bloomberg Enlarge Image The company, which...

Sriracha lovers united for the first-ever Sriracha Festival on Sunday in downtown Los Angeles. They came in droves with a line wrapping around the long city block outside Lot 163, where participants came armed with cameras, dressed in red T-shirts, and one, wrapped in a full Sriracha bottle costume. Melissa Joves from Cerritos made her own costume by wearing a red sriracha shirt with a rooster on it, red pants, red tennis shoes and a green hat. Wearing sunglasses and a smile, she peered out of the green head piece and proudly grasped her new copy of "The Veggie Lover's...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and...

Ron Stidmon sells more than 20 varieties of garlic and grows about 40 on the Darlington Township farm he purchased with his wife, Rosemary, in 2003. They left behind white-collar jobs and a condo in New York after re-evaluating their priorities. Ron worked as an executive coach and consultant. Rosemary was a manager in the securities division of JPMorgan. The decision was prompted in part by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Ron lost one of his best friends that day. In Cleveland for a business venture at the time, he had trouble getting in touch with Rosemary and had to...

The humble garlic, a staple ingredient in many eastern curries, offers a lot of health benefits. A new study says that garlic reduces the risk of lung cancer.A new study conducted by researchers in China revealed that consuming raw garlic twice a week reduces the risk of lung cancer by 44 per cent. Furthermore, even smokers benefit from consuming raw garlic as their risk of contracting lung cancer drops by 30 per cent. The researchers from Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China, concluded this based on the analysis of data of 1,400 lung cancer patients and 4,500...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread ... there is no telling where it will go and...

Two drops of water is all it takes to breed mosquitoes in your back yard. So what are you doing to prevent West Nile virus? Tony Jenkins, the assistant director of environmental health for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, said there are options besides DEET-based insecticides, starting with garlic. “Garlic is an insect repellent... it really is,” he said. You can eat it and you can plant it — either way, mosquitoes don't like it. “Wherever that area is, and wherever the aromatics tend to penetrate, that would help to do some mosquito reduction around your house,”...

Weekly Gardening Thread Good morning gardeners. JustaDumbBlonde has been very busy lately and asked me to post this weeks thread for her. She felt bad about not being able to respond to posts on last weeks thread. I hope all of your gardens are doing well. My little 6 x 6 raised bed tomato patch is coming along fine. It has benefited from a couple of good rain showers in the last couple of weeks. "> This picture was taken at about 3:30 pm yesterday. The shade starts moving on to the tomato patch at about 3 pm and...

Garlic may be the best weapon against a type of bacteria responsible for millions of cases of food poisoning in the United States every year, according to a new study. Researchers from Washington State University discovered that a compound found in garlic was 100 times more effective than antibiotics at killing Campylobacter, most common cause of food-borne bacterial illness in the United States. The compound, diallyl sulphide, which is responsible for the garlic smell that sticks to your hands when you cook, worked better and faster than the common antibiotic treatments for Campylobacter, erythromycin and ciprofloxacin. Eating massive quantities of...

Author explores the global goodness of nature’s beloved cloveThe outrageous success of Twilight in recent years has resulted in authors pitching every kind of vampire-riffing book they can think of, from teen romance to paranormal thrillers. Liz Primeau went another way: She wrote a book about garlic. The bulb went off, so to speak, for Primeau in 2009 — but not because of garlic’s folkloric ability to repel vampires. “China dumped on us, flooding the market with cheap low-quality garlic and undercutting local agriculture,” the author recalls. “When I read that, that was sort of the finishing touch. I’ve been...

A local court in Nagpur has ordered the destruction of Chinese garlic after a laboratory in Pune revealed fungus. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Manoj Tiwari said that the garlic was hazardous and unfit for human consumption. "When the dried garlic was examined carefully, the report we got from Pune, revealed that the garlic was infected with fungus. It is also known as mould growth. It is dangerous for human beings and it can neither be used by the humans nor animals. This why, we have destroyed it after we get an order from the court," said Tiwari. he...